CTC Leiderdorp, June 2017

The list mentions basic information of each device (LCCD) that will help you in a buying decision for your business or activities.
Devices (spectrophotometers) for measuring color are usually quite expensive (€/$ 5k-20k) but in the last 10 years low cost devices with specific functionalities entered the markets and new developments are added every year. The price ranges from €/$ 50 – 700. LCCDs carry alluring names like Nix, Muse, Nano, ColorReader, Capsure, Node, and Pico.

The basic scenario for LCCDs can be described as follows: suppose you want to know the paint color of an object like a wall. Without a color fan deck it is almost impossible to determine the color but even if a fan deck with color chips is available it is not easy to identify the closest color match in the fan deck. LCCDs are often assisted by an App and can help you to do that. Each LCCD use specific technologies but in most cases will do the job to identify a fan deck color.

LCCDs are meant to be used by professionals like painters and architects. Given the low price we expect that prosumers will also be interested to use these devices. Especially if the user scenario extends to areas like fashion and photography. For this purpose we see that manufacturers are extending their apps to give Lab and RGB data of the measured color which can be used for other purposes than searching a fan deck.

We think most manufacturers want to go for the big numbers but it seems that a real breakthrough is not there yet. We guesstimate the total number of devices to be 100.000+ while the manufacturers expect this number to go over the millions.

A new development that is closely related to this subject is the use of color calibration cards in combination with a smart phone. The latest development is from X-Rite. We included this card in the list together with the card from Techkon.

Also read our blog post with an overview related to low cost devices. Or read the excerpt of our industry report.

Please contact us if you need more information or want to comment the content: info@coltechcon.com.